Two grand slams from Will Garlick and Brian Cunningham highlighted an already huge day for the Howard Payne baseball team in a 19-3 route of Schreiner University Thursday afternoon at Don Shepard Park.
It was the largest margin of victory for the HPU men’s baseball team in at least seven years and is the largest run total for the Jackets since March 7, 2009 when they beat Schreiner 24-12.
The Yellow Jackets (13-20, 8-11 ASC) starting pitcher Jonathan Morris recorded his first win of the year throwing six innings allowing two earned runs on six hits, while striking out five.
HPU’s bats would get going early with four runs in the first inning behind a three RBI triple two right
center from Chase Holmes. His hit would score Sam Dollahite, Jordan Hammontree, and Taylor Zambreski. Dustin Cole would follow that up and sacrifice fly to center field bringing in Holmes from third to take the score to 4-0 after one inning.
In the third the Jackets would make the best of three Mountaineer (8-26, 4-12 ASC) fielding errors, including a 2-RBI single to right field from Ryan Abbott, and a score on the third error to make the game 7-0 through two.
After a scoreless third inning, the Jackets would get another big inning brought to a head by a grand slam from senior Will Garlick to right center. It was his second home run on the year and his third of his collegiate career, but his first grand slam.
Schreiner would get two runs back in the top of the fifth. One would come on a double down the left field line by Chase Valdez scoring Marcus Myhaver from second.
Going into the bottom of the eighth, the Jackets led 13-3 before producing their biggest inning of the game where they would tack on six more to make the final score 19-3. The Mountaineers would load the bases three times during that time, letting one run score on a error by their second baseman, and another walked in.
On the third time, Brian Cunningham put together a nice at bat before unloading the bases with the games second grand slam down the left field line for his first collegiate home run.
The Jackets continue their series with Schreiner at 1:00 p.m. Friday, April 22 at Don Shepard Park.
